Disposable integrated endoscope

Abstract

A disposable integrated endoscope integrates two light-emitting diodes (LED) and two CMOS image sensors on the front end of the endoscope, which not only can avoid the use of expensive light-guide prisms, be made as a relatively inexpensive and disposable integrated endoscope, but also provide a clearer 3D image of the internal tissues or organs of human body by means of the light emitted by the LEDs. In addition, by furnishing a heat dissipation structure having a heat-pipe at the front end of the endoscope, the high heat generated by the image sensors at the front end of the endoscope can be quickly dissipated to the rear end of the endoscope to achieve a good heat dissipation effect, so as to avoid scalding human tissues due to the temperature of the front end of the endoscope reaches 48° C. or above.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A disposable integrated endoscope comprising:
 an image capturing module for capturing images; said image capturing module further comprising:
 a hollow outer tube, extending a first length along a first direction and having a front end opening and a rear end opening; 
 at least one image sensor, located in the outer tube and adjacent to the front end opening; said at least one image sensor being configured to capture images of an object outside the front end opening and generate image signals accordingly; 
 at least one light-supplying component, located in the outer tube and adjacent to both the at least one image sensor and the front end opening; said at least one light-supplying component being configured to emit light to illuminate the object located outside the front end opening; 
 a flexible circuit board, comprising an elongated strip and received inside the outer tube; a front end of the flexible circuit board being electrically connected to the at least one image sensor; a rear end of the flexible circuit board extending along the first direction and extending out of the rear end opening of the outer tube; and 
 a heat-pipe, accommodated in the outer tube and extending along the first direction for a second length; a front end of the heat-pipe being located at a first location where the at least one image sensor and the at least one light-supplying component are also located, while a rear end of the heat-pipe being located at a second location where the rear end opening of the outer pipe is also located; said heat-pipe being configured to conduct a heat generated by the at least one image sensor toward the rear end opening of the outer pipe in order to provide a heat dissipation function; 
 
 a handle, connected to a rear portion of the outer tube of the image capturing module; said handle having an inner compartment; 
 an image-transmission circuit board, located within the inner compartment of the handle; the image-transmission circuit board being provided with a control unit which includes at least one integrated-circuit component capable of processing said image signals; the rear end of the flexible circuit board being electrically connected to the image-transmission circuit board; the image signals generated by the at least one image sensor being transmitted to the image-transmission circuit board via the flexible circuit board; the at least one integrated-circuit component included in the control unit being configured to convert the image signals into digital signals that are configured to be processed by a computer; 
 a cable module, connected to the handle; the cable module including a quick-coupling connector and a circuit board connector electrically connected to the quick-coupling connector; the quick-coupling connector being configured to connect with an external device; the circuit board connector being electrically connected to the image-transmission circuit board, so that the digital signals converted by the control unit are configured to be transmitted to the external device via the quick-coupling connector of the cable module, in addition, the external device is configured to provide power to the image-transmission circuit board via the cable module; 
 a chip carrier, located in the outer tube and adjacent to the front end opening; said chip carrier having a carrying surface perpendicular to the first direction and a rear surface opposite to the carrying surface; a circuit layout being provided on the chip carrier; the at least one image sensor being disposed on the carrying surface and electrically connected to the circuit layout of the chip carrier; 
 a front cover, covering the carrying surface of the chip carrier; said front cover being respectively provided with an opening at positions corresponding to the at least one image sensor and the at least one light-supplying component, such that a light-sensing surface of the at least one image sensor and a light-emitting surface of the at least one light-supplying component are respectively plugged into the corresponding openings and exposed to a front surface of the front cover; the front cover being plugged and fixed at the front end opening of the outer tube, such that the chip carrier together with the at least one image sensor and the at least one light-supplying component thereon are fixed to the front end opening of the outer tube by means of the front cover; the flexible circuit board being electrically connected to the circuit layout of the chip carrier; 
 a protective glass, covering the front surface of the front cover and corresponding to the light-sensing surface of the at least one image sensor; 
 a heat-pipe stand, capping on a front end of the heat-pipe; an outer diameter of the heat-pipe stand being corresponding to an inner diameter of the outer tube; the heat-pipe stand positioning and supporting the front end of the heat-pipe at a third location where the front end opening of the outer tube is also located; the heat-pipe stand having a front end surface; a thermal tape being provided on the front end surface of the heat-pipe stand; said thermal tape being attached and sandwiched between the front end surface of the heat-pipe stand and the rear surface of the chip carrier, such that a heat generated by the at least one image sensor is dissipated to the heat-pipe stand and the heat-pipe via the chip carrier and the thermal tape; and 
 a first connector, furnished at the rear end of the flexible circuit board away from the chip carrier; the first connector being connected with a connector socket of the image-transmission circuit board. 
 
     
     
       2. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 1 , wherein the image capturing module further comprises a heat-shrinkable sleeve which covers outside of the heat-pipe, the heat-pipe stand and part of the flexible circuit board; by heating the heat-shrinkable sleeve, the heat-shrinkable sleeve is shrunk; such that the flexible circuit board attaches on an outer surface of the heat-pipe. 
     
     
       3. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one light-supplying component is light-emitting diode (LED); the at least one LED being disposed on the carrying surface and electrically connected to the circuit layout of the chip carrier; a heat generated by the at least one LED is dissipated to the heat-pipe stand and the heat-pipe via the chip carrier and the thermal tape; the number of the at least one LED is two, and these two LEDs are respectively located on upper and lower sides of the at least one image sensor. 
     
     
       4. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 3 , wherein the number of the at least one image sensor is two, and these two image sensors are adjacently arranged in a left and right side-by-side manner, and said two image sensors are both located between the two LEDs. 
     
     
       5. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 1 , wherein an indicator is arranged on an outer surface of the handle; the indicator indicates a position where a rotation angle of the at least one image sensor is 0 degrees. 
     
     
       6. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one image sensor is Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor; the image signals generated by the at least one image sensor are directly transmitted via the circuit layout on the chip carrier to the flexible circuit board and then further directly transmitted to the image-transmission circuit board; the control unit on the image-transmission circuit board provides functions that comply with the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) specifications, which is configured to convert the image signals from the at least one image sensor into the digital signals that are configured to be processed by the computer. 
     
     
       7. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 6 , wherein the digital signals converted and generated by the control unit of the image-transmission circuit board comply with one of the following specifications: high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) specification, DisplayPort (DP) specification, video graphics interface (VGA) specification, Digital Visual Interface (DVI) specification, or Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification. 
     
     
       8. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 1 , wherein the quick-coupling connector of the disposable integrated endoscope is connected with the external device; the external device is a rear-end device; the rear-end device is further connected to a medical industrial personal computer (IPC) via a universal serial port (USB) plug. 
     
     
       9. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 1 , wherein the quick-coupling connector of the disposable integrated endoscope is connected with the external device; the external device is an industrial personal computer (IPC). 
     
     
       10. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one light-supplying component includes a plurality of optical fibers; said optical fibers are furnished inside the disposable integrated endoscope and extending between an optical-fiber connector furnished on the handle and the chip carrier; front ends of the optical fibers are arranged and distributed to surround on an outer periphery of the at least one image sensor. 
     
     
       11. The disposable integrated endoscope of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one integrated-circuit component includes a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) which is a semiconductor integrated circuit where electrical functionality is customized to accelerate processing of said image signals; additionally, an image signal processing (ISP) IC is furnished inside the IPC for accepting and further processing the image signals processed by the FPGA.